Unsigned rock bands, whether they be heritage acts or baby bands, were keen on the idea of recording shows and issuing CDs for patrons as they left venues. It was a plan that seemed pretty sound for awhile just a few years ago, but there appears to be less and less interest in the instant recordings.
One has to wonder, though, why didn't the show just moved to the Internet? And face it - many act is performign the same show night after night and they don;t have much value to anyone who was not at a particular concert. Jazz, on the other hand, is ripe for this opportunity: No two performances should ever be the same. Or at least we like to think they won't be.
Jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas sold shows in late 2006 and he's going in for a second round.
Douglas and his band Keystone will be recording all of their sets Thursday through Sunday at the Jazz Standard in New York. Show will be available for download purchase within 24 hours of the performance at the website of his label, Greenleaf, which also boasts a great blog. He's selling each set for $7; all eight shows are available for 50 buck.
Douglas is already making his new album "Moonshine" available at the site; it will be released at retail on May 13. Sets will feature compositions that have appeared on "Freak In," "Keystone" and "Moonshine," as well as unrecorded material.
The downloads will be offered in a new file type called a FLAC file, a lossless compression encoder that delivers CD quality.  The files will be slightly more expensive than the MP3 albums which are also being sampled at 256k, rather than the standard 192k.    
His Friday and Saturday late sets are being recorded for broadcast on the BBC’s Jazz On 3.
Douglas first recorded and released live sets in December 2006.